Sometimes you just have to laugh…

Never mind they get the story wrong (the gay penguins hatched a chick — it wasin 2005 that the same zoo imported female penguins to see if its gay male pairs would go straight), what’s more important to O’Reilly and Miller is that the story gives them a chance to hoot at one another over lame “tight T-shirt” and “pre-colored egg” jokes. And don’t forget the pre-op transsexuals. Always good for a laugh. And we all need to laugh…

“Another couple threw the egg out of their batch. We picked it up and put it in the nest of the gay penguins,” veterinarian Joachim Schöne told the German newspaper Bild of the pair’s entry into parenthood. Z and Vielpunkt faithfully cared for their adopted egg for more than a month; in late April it hatched. Since then, they’ve been taking care of their chick around the clock; it’s still too young to feed itself, so the dads feed him fish mash, Schöne explained.

“Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do,” the zoo said in a statement.

The Bremerhaven Zoo’s same-sex penguin couples (there are three such pairs in residence there, all males) first made news back in 2005, according to the BBC. At the time, the zoo announced plans to “test” the sexual orientations of the six penguins, who’d been seen engaging in mating rituals and trying to incubate rocks as if they were eggs. Gay rights advocates were outraged when the zoo brought four new female penguins into the colony in a bid to encourage the penguins to reproduce, and the zoo later nixed the idea. (In the zoo’s defense, Humboldt penguins are classified as vulnerable to extinction, so it does make a certain amount of sense to be concerned about them reproducing. And since Z and Vielpunkt have done just that, everyone wins!)

Z and Vielpunkt aren’t the first same-sex penguin pair to successfully care for a chick. Another such couple were male chinstrap penguin residents of New York’s Central Park Zoo named Roy and Silo. Roy and Silo, much like the Bremerhaven penguins, were so anxious to hatch an egg that they tried incubating a rock. They were eventually given an “orphaned” fertile egg and successfully raised a female chick named Tango.

Another male penguin couple were removed from their colony in a Chinese zoo last year when they repeatedly tried to steal eggs from male-and-female pairs. (In a rather ingenious move, they actually replaced the eggs they were stealing with rocks.) But visitors complained when the penguins were removed, and eventually they were given two eggs of their own. Since then, a keeper told the Daily Mail, “they’ve turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo.”

–Lindsay Barnett

Top photo: Z and Vielpunkt in their enclosure

Credit: Carmen Jaspersen / European Pressphoto Agency

Bottom photo: The couple’s chick, who has not been named and whose sex is still unknown

Save a Life…Adopt Just One More…Pet!

Everyday we read or hear another story about pets and other animals being abandoned in record numbers while at the same time we regularly hear about crazy new rules and laws being passed limiting the amount of pets that people may have, even down to one or two… or worse yet, none.

Nobody is promoting hoarding pets or animals, but at a time when there are more pets and animals of all types being abandoned or being taken to shelters already bursting at the seams, there is nothing crazier than legislating away the ability of willing adoptive families to take in just one more pet!!

Our goal is to raise awareness and help find homes for all pets and animals that need one by helping to match them with loving families and positive situations. Our goal is also to help fight the trend of unfavorable legislation and rules in an attempt to stop unnecessary Euthenization!!

“All over the world, major universities are researching the therapeutic value of pets in our society and the number of hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and mental institutions which are employing full-time pet therapists and animals is increasing daily.” ~ Betty White, American Actress, Animal Activist, and Author of Pet Love

There is always room for Just One More Pet. So if you have room in your home and room in your heart… Adopt Just One More! If you live in an area that promotes unreasonable limitations on pets… fight the good fight and help change the rules and legislation…

Save the Life of Just One More…Animal!

Recent and Seasonal Shots

As I have been fighting Cancer… A battle I am gratefully winning, my furkids have not left my side. They have been a large part of my recovery!! Ask Marion

Photos by the UCLA Shutterbug are protected by copyright, Please email at JustOneMorePet@gmail.com or find us on twitter @JustOneMorePet for permission to duplicate for commerical purposes or to purchase photos.

By Marion Algier – JOMP St. Patrick’s Day Baby… Hermosa. Our niece adopted a Mustang, Eclipse, who was pregnant. Eclipse gave birth to her new baby midday; a wonderful St. Patty’s Day gift. Welcome little filly!

Life With Dogs: A woman named Joanna Mellor had her life saved after going into cardiac arrest and being clinically dead for half an hour when her dog barked until her boyfriend woke up and called for an ambulance. The UK woman was sleeping on January 2nd when she suffered a heart attack and stopped […]

Illustration by John Cuneo by Wells Tower – June/July 2014 – Garden & Gun – Cross-Posted at Just One More Pet The nervous work of owning—and finally loving—a Chihuahua For many years, I thought that owners of small dogs harbored stunted souls. Parents of infant beauty queens. Weird bachelors with pet stairs by their beds. […]

Brutus Cries for Brother Hank By Marion Algier – Just One More Pet The message… animals have feelings too. This shows one dog’s reaction to finding out his twin brother had passed during the night. Brutus, does not want to leave his brother Hanks side even after he’s passed away. Brutus stays close, and […]

Rosie By Patricia D. Gillenwater Our sweet Rosie passed on to the Rainbow Bridge today after succumbing to the Big C. Rosie came into our lives in a serendipitous moment. She needed us and, after two losses of two wonderful rescue critters for extreme health issues, we needed Rosie. She was with us for nearly […]

By Harrison’s Natural Dog Training There’s just one thing that all dogs want to know, and they need you to answer it. Between raising the kids and making meals, working a shift, going to soccer games, swimming lessons, making time for your better half, going to the gym walking the dog..well.. the list could go […]

By Marion Algier – Excerpted from Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees 01-06-15 !! at Ask Marion My Weasel of the Week nominee is PETA!! . Sarah Palin posted a photo of her 6-year-old special needs son, Trig, trying to help with the dishes. Nobody immediately reacted when he said he needed help to reach […]

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Great Book for Children and Pet Lovers… And a Perfect Holiday Gift

One More Pet
Emily loves animals so much that she can’t resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to “feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams.” The farmer is so grateful for Emily’s help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily’s collection of pets get bigger and bigger.

If You Were Stranded On An Island…

A recent national survey revealed just how much Americans love their companion animals. When respondents were asked whether they’d like to spend life stranded on a deserted island with either their spouse or their pet, over 60% said they would prefer their dog or cat for companionship!